Unauthorized use of a vehicle is prevalent in every country. The unauthorized use may be, for example, a vehicle theft, a child taking a parent's car without permission, or a valet taking the vehicle for a “joy ride.” Various proposals have been proffered to provide security measures in vehicles to prevent unauthorized use, or at least make it more difficult. Some of these proposals use a face recognition system which may be used to identify or verify a person from an image or video. For example, the face recognition system may extract unique features of the subject face from an image or video frame and use the information to identify the person. Examples of unique features of the face include size, shape of eyes, nose, mouth, cheekbones, jaws, and the like.
As one example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,400,835 to Lemelson et al. discloses a taillight mounted vehicle security system employing facial recognition using reflected image. A movable-vehicle security system includes a facial-recognition system including a scanner such as a television or infrared camera directed at the face of a person in the driver's seat. Output control signals are produced that are applied to enable or disable operation of the vehicle, with or without a key or other supplemental security system. The system includes a camera mounted on the “third taillight” assembly (which is mounted below the roof and inside the rear window), directed at the rear-view minor, and coupled to a facial-recognition computer, which in turn is coupled (with appropriate security precautions) to an enabling element for the vehicle, such as a starter motor. The system can be coupled to various elements of the motive system to create an auto-starting car. Other examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,116,803 and 7,602,947 also to Lemelson et al.
Other types of security systems have also been proposed. For example, a vehicle security system may include a remote device that communicates with an alarm device mounted in the vehicle. The alarm devices may communicate with sensors which monitor, for example, the status of doors and movement in the vicinity of the vehicle. The remote device may be used to activate or de-activate the alarm. However, the alarm system does not verify the validity of the alarm trigger such as when the alarm is triggered when a passerby accidentally touches the vehicle or another vehicle moves too close to the vehicle.